Lily and the Marauders: The Untold Epic (First Year)
by BronwynBrian
Summary: My take on how the Parents of the Boy Who Lived got together. This is the story of their first year. A/N: It's not completely canon. I'm going to try to put in the main canon events, but I won't necessarily remember. If I don't, I'm sorry! Rated "T" for inevitable swearing DISCLAIMER: Not JKR. I'm pretty certain I'm not, anyways...
1. Leaving

**FIRST YEAR**

**Chapter One - Leaving**

"Come on, James! Hurry up; you'll miss the train!" James Potter jumped and quickly walked over to his parents, who were waiting for him, so they could all go through to Platform 9 ¾ together. Before they could get completely through, they heard some yelling behind them. They all turned around discreetly (apart from James, who just turned around and stared). A young girl, probably about James' age, with long, flowing red hair and a petite figure was being yelled at by someone, presumably her older sister. Her parents didn't seem to notice the scene going on right beneath their noses, or, if they did, they were used to it. James took a few steps closer, so he could hear what they were saying. He didn't really need to, as the yelling match was getting louder and louder.

"You're a freak! That's all you are! A nasty little freak that can do stupid little magic tricks! That's right, you're going to a stupid school full of freaks just like you, and they'll keep you all away from the normal people like us!" The older sister yelled. She seemed to be trying to convince herself, as well as the red-head. She looked about the same as the red-head, just not as pretty. She had brown hair, spots that covered her entire face, and a very, very tall figure. James noticed the tears forming in the younger girls eyes, but she refused to let them fall. He was extremely impressed, even more so when she spat out a quick retort as if she didn't even have to think about it.

"You didn't seem to think it was a "freak's school" when you wrote to the headmaster, and begged him to give you a place with me!" The brunette stumbled back a step, as if someone had punched her.

"How did you see that?" She asked, outraged. "That was in my private stuff!" Now Red was on the defensive.

"I picked up the post on the morning when you got the reply. It was very sweet." The brunette gasped and turned her back on her sister, but not before she had the last word.

"Freak." She whispered to her little sister, then turned her back, leaving Red wounded and trying not to cry.

"Well, that was interesting!" Exclaimed a voice from behind James. Two other voices agreed with him heartily. James turned, knowing who he would see. Sure enough, behind him stood Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. He squealed like a girl, and grabbed his friends in a massive hug. Remus and Peter hugged him back, laughing, but Sirius struggled out of James' arms. Even though they had only met in Diagon Alley a few days ago, Sirius and James already knew each other extremely well. Far too well, in some people's opinion. As soon as he had gotten out of the circle of James' arms, he grabbed his nose. Sure enough, Jams had dropped a dungbomb, and was covering his nose with his sleeve. The other boys laughed and promised to get him back for that one.

Suddenly, his mother turned to the boys. "Hello, boys, how are you today?" She asked them. They all smiled at her.

"We're fine, Mrs. Potter, how are you?" Remus responded. She smiled at him, her eyes quickly taking in his too-big clothes and the scars that covered his face.

"I'm fine, thank you, Remus. Are you all excited to finally be going to Hogwarts?" The boys all nodded enthusiastically, and Mr. Potter laughed.

"I remember when I was your age, and I was just about to leave for Hogwarts for the first time. I was so thrilled! Of course, I was in Gryffindor, so I met your mother on the first day..." He trailed off, looking at his wife lovingly. James and Sirius made faces behind them, and pretended to throw up, while Peter and Remus looked away, to give them some room. Mrs. Potter laughed at her husband.

"Honestly, Mike, you'd think that you'd have learnt by now to not go on about things like that! After all, we all know what James thinks of us when we do that!" James nodded enthusiastically, and Sirius, Remus and Peter grinned at him. "Anyway, come on boys, let's get you onto the train!" James looked around at his friends, then back at his parents.

"Awwh, come on Mum, my friends are here now! Can't we go through on our own? Please?" He begged, and she smiled.

"Can you remember how to get through?" She asked sternly, eyes twinkling, and James yelped with excitement.

"Run straight at the wall, and don't think that you're going to hit it, and keep running, and then you'll be there!"

"Fine then, you can go. We'll come through after you with your things. Here, put them all onto two trolleys - it will be a lot easier for you to all go through together." The boys all complied, chatting excitedly.

"Come on, let's go!" James said, then glanced around, to see if anyone was looking at them. There was only one person who was, the pretty little red-head who had been arguing with her sister earlier. She was looking back and forth between James and his friends. He raised his eyebrows and winked at her when she next looked back at him. She didn't even blink. She just glared at him, then turned with as much contempt as she could muster. James was amazed. Even at the tender age of eleven years old, he knew he was irresistible. How come she hadn't even blushed a tiny little bit?

The other boys brought him out of his musings.

"Come on!" yelled Sirius. "We can get there now!" James nodded, and the four of them ran at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Just before James hit the wall, he turned to look back at the red-head. She was watching them go through the wall, her eyes wide with shock. When she noticed James watching her, she quickly turned away. James grinned to himself. She obviously wasn't as immune as she wanted him to think.

* * *

><p>Lily watched the four boys run at the wall – and disappear! She gasped, not quite understanding what she had seen. Then she saw the boy with messy hair still standing - leaning would be more accurate - against the wall the others had just run through. He looked at her, like he was trying to figure something out. He was cute enough, she supposed, but she had a clean dating record, and wasn't about to change that any time soon. He had messy hair that stuck up at the back, hazel eyes, made surprisingly large by the wire rimmed glasses perched on his nose, which was short and looked really good on his face. His lips looked very kissable, but before she could allow her mind to wander anymore she brought her gaze up to his eyes again. He smiled at her, and she groaned. He had been watching her watching him, apparently. She turned back around quickly, before she could embarrass herself further. She still watched him out of the corner of her eyes, though. She saw him grin to himself, as if he knew she was still watching him, then took a step back and walked through the "wall".<p>

Once she was sure he had gone, she turned and kissed her parents goodbye. She tried to give her sister, Petunia, a hug too, but Petunia glared at her icily and turned to talk to one of the many friends she had made in the ten minutes they had been standing on the platform. Lily sighed, and turned away slowly.

"Bye Mum, Dad, Tuney." She called to them as she pushed her trolley opposite the wall between platforms 9 and 10. She took a deep breath, and ran at the wall. She heard someone behind her call out, but she didn't stop or turn around. An instant before the impact should have come, she found herself in the middle of the wall. Then, she was on the other side. She looked around, and saw a sign that said "Welcome to platform 9&¾." She smiled to herself, then went over to the massive red engine that had just pulled into the station. It was very nice, she thought to herself, almost like it was made by magic. She grinned to herself this time, quickly and quietly grabbed her luggage, and went to find an empty compartment.

It wasn't very hard to find an empty compartment, as there was hardly anyone on the train at that point. She walked in to the first one she found, made sure it was empty, and, once she was sure, dragged her bag in. She sat down with a sigh, glad to finally be on the train, and able to rest her feet.

Almost as soon as she had done this (or so it seemed to her), the boys from the platform were barging unceremoniously into the carriage, chatting with each other loudly. None of them noticed Lily curled up in the corner of the booth until the sandy haired boy turned to put his bag on the shelf above their heads. When he did notice her, he did a double take, then nudged the two black haired boys standing next to him. When they looked at him, he nodded gently towards the corner where the very dazed Lily sat. She was sure they would leave as soon as they noticed her, prayed they would, in fact, but her prayers were not answered. The taller of the two black haired boys stepped forwards and offered her his hand. She looked at it, then at him, suspiciously. She had seen the dungbomb incident before they got on the platform. He frowned, but the other boys had stepped forwards as well by then, and leaned in to stage whisper to her.

"That was a very clever move. Now he can't get you as well!" He winked at her, and she smiled shyly at him. The first boy who had stepped forwards yelped.

"Hey, Sirius, that's not fair! I wasn't going to get her!" He complained at the second, obviously called Sirius. Sirius grinned and slapped his back.

"Sorry, James, mate, but you have to admit it crossed your mind!" He said. James hung his head slightly, and Sirius let out a crow of laughter. He then started dancing in the middle of the booth, singing "I was right! I was right!" over and over again. James started laughing at him, as did the other boys whose names Lily had yet to learn. She giggled along with them. The sandy haired boy smiled gently at her, walked over, (avoiding Sirius and James scarily easily) and caught her eye.

"I'm sorry about them. They aren't normally like this - well, I don't think so, anyway. We only met in Diagon Alley the other day. Anyway, I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, shaking Lily's hand. "The two idiots dancing are James and Sirius. James is the one with tufty hair at the back." He added sneakily. James mock-growled.

"I heard that!" Remus laughed.

"I know you did!" He replied, then continued introducing people to her. "And the little one in the corner is Peter Pettigrew." Here Peter gave a small wave, then continued watching James and Sirius rolling around on the floor in amusement. They had given up dancing and were now having a fake little wrestling match. Remus sat down next to her, and curled his legs onto his seat, so the two boys on the floor couldn't "accidently" hit him. Lily giggled a little at the sight of the two eleven year olds rolling round on the floor, then suddenly remembered she hadn't told the boys her name. None of them seemed to have noticed, but she was pretty certain Remus was sneaking little calculating looks at her. She blushed, then said;

"I'm Lily. Lily Evans." Remus glanced at her, and smiled.

"Lovely to meet you, Lily Evans." He said, then suddenly disappeared. Lily looked down, to see Sirius and James now tickling poor Remus. She giggled at them. All of a sudden, the train rocked, then started moving. Sirius and James quickly got off Remus, and all three of them sat down on one of the seats in the booth. Remus sat back down next to her, with James opposite and Sirius sitting next to him. Peter was sitting on the end, next to Sirius. They all smiled at her, as she had jumped slightly when the train started moving, then, understanding she was uncomfortable, started talking at each other. Lily smiled at the arguments they had, and closed her eyes. She knew it was going to be a long ride, so she was willing to sleep through most of it.

* * *

><p>The boys glanced at each other, then at the girl sleeping in the corner of their booth. They smiled at her, at the same time, then realised what they had all done. They grinned sheepishly, at each other this time, then started talking amongst themselves again as the train whisked them off to Hogwarts.<p> 


	2. Hogwarts!

**Chapter Two – Hogwarts!**

"Lily! Oi, Lily!" Called a voice from very far away. Lily moaned, raised her hand, and flicked it away. The yelling stopped for a moment, and she thought she could just about hear some other people muttering to each other. Then, she was lifted up and thrown over someone's shoulder. She mused vaguely that it was good she had already changed into her school robes before she had found the booth on the carriage. Suddenly she jerked awake. The booth! The train! The boys! She groaned quietly. They had probably done all sorts of thing to her hair, face or robes while she was asleep. She didn't even really know them that well, but from what had happened before, on the platform and in the booth she knew they would certainly have done something. Then she realised she was being carried by someone. A boy for certain. She instantly started kicking and hitting him. He put her on the ground gently, then shook her slightly.

"Are you awake now, Lily?" He asked. She sighed and shook her head, pushing her hair out of her eyes at the same time. She looked up, and saw the four boys from the train standing around her. James was standing right in front of her – he must have been carrying her. She noticed he was carrying her trunk as well, and thanked him quietly. Standing next to him, on the right, was Sirius, carrying two bags – she assumed they were his and James'. Standing next to him was Peter, who was carrying his own bags, and finally Remus. He smiled at her, understanding softening his eyes. She thanked him with her eyes as he helped her up. He smiled at her again, then they all walked over to where a giant of a man was standing, bellowing;

"Firs' years! Firs' years to me! Come on, come on, we 'aven't got all day!" As they walked over to him, Lily started to wrestle her bag off of James.

"What on Earth are you doing?" He asked incredulously at her pathetic attempts at reaching the bag. He had slung it over his shoulder. Even at eleven he was incredibly tall, compared to Lily he was, at least. She had to keep jumping to try and reach the handles, and that, as well as walking, had caused her to lose her footing more than once, though she was extremely good at re-positioning herself so she didn't fall over.

"I can carry my own bag, thanks." She replied, making another grab for it. James laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh no you don't! This is really heavy! What did you pack in it, a library?" She hung her head sheepishly. James looked at her, then back at the bag on his shoulder, and burst out laughing. She glared at him.

"What's so funny?" She asked, not missing the glance that passed around the group of boys.

"Do you really expect me to let _you_-" James looked her up and down, and smirked "-carry a bag this big, filled with book, books, books, books, books, and more books?" He asked. She looked down at herself. Sure, she was a little on the short side, and painfully skinny, but she was stronger than she looked. After all, she had taken it all the way round Kings Cross station, and put it onto the shelf on her own! She glared at James, and reiterated what she had just thought. He laughed even more at that. "Flower, we're here anyway, so there isn't any point in arguing with me." She stopped, and looked behind her. Sure enough, they were all standing in a huddle around the giant man.

"I don't care!" She growled. "Just give me my bag back!" He glanced around at his friends, then, seemingly having overruled him, he sighed and dropped her bag to the floor. She squeaked, and quickly knelt down so she could open it, and check on her stuff. Over her head, the boys exchanged amused glances. Eventually, she found a plain box, advertising a place called "Langham Glass", and opened it. She breathed a sigh of relief; the miniature fox figurine hadn't smashed when James dropped her bag.

Finally certain nothing had been broken, she stood, grabbing the bag handles and pulling it up with her. James and his friends were watching her carefully, so she made sure she didn't flinch, grimace or whimper from the weight. Seemingly satisfied, James ushered her forwards, so he and his friends could see over the heads of all the other first years. The giant man had begun to speak.

"We're just gonna follow this path for a bit, then we – well, you'll see when you get there!" he beamed, and started off down the path. Everyone else stayed where they were, shocked. Then James yelled out

"Go! Go! I want to see the school before Christmas, thanks!" Everyone laughed, and started walking along the path, where the giant was waiting.

"Oh, and by the way," He called out to everyone, "My names Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid." Then he continued walking down to the edge of the path. It was too dark; no one could really see anything except the person in front of them, so they had no idea where they were going.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was only about ten minutes, they stopped. The people right at the front, just behind Hagrid, gasped. Lily, who had been looking down at the floor to avoid seeing the looks James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were giving her, glanced up, and gasped too. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

The windows at the front of the school were bright and inviting. It looked toasty and warm in there, though Lily supposed anywhere would feel warm after spending at least half an hour out in the cold. The first years could see something in the windows, but after a moment most of them looked away, disappointed. The things in the windows had gone.

Lily, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus, however, stood there with their mouths hanging open. They could see the – _things_ – in the windows perfectly. They seemed to be animals of some kind, but when they looked the whole way along the line they saw they were all different kinds of animals. There was what looked like a pony or horse, an otter, a butterfly, and a cat, as well as many more they couldn't name. Hagrid looked back at all of the children and noticed those five could see them. He nodded to himself, resolving to remember and tell the headmaster.

"No more'n five to a boat!" He called, pointing to a little fleet of boats floating in the water. Lily looked around at the boys, and when they didn't look at her, she shrugged and found an empty boat. Unsurprisingly, the boys followed her, and they all dragged their bags on with them. Lily looked around at them and grinned.

"Well hello! Fancy meeting you boys like this again!" They all burst out laughing, so loud they almost missed all of Hagrid's speech. As it was, they only caught the end.

"Right then – FORWARD!" He yelled, and all the boats started moving, as though they were all on an automated pulley system. They drifted over the lake and into a little alcove that couldn't be seen from the shore. Out they all got, and stood in lots of little groups, discussing everything and anything – the train ride, the train itself, the boats, the boat ride, their first sighting of Hogwarts, and the mysterious things in the windows that disappeared so quickly.

Lily and the boys, however, stood silently for a few moments. Lily had a lot of questions she wanted to ask them, about themselves and Hogwarts and magic, but she wasn't sure if they would mind her prying. Sirius grew tired of the silence.

"So, how'd you find out about it? Your magic?" He asked, eager for anything to disrupt the awkward silence that filled the air. Lily shuddered.

"It's... it's sorta a long story..." She told him apologetically.

"I don't care! I enjoy listening to stories!" He then put on a really childish face and stuck his thumb in his mouth, making her giggle.

"Fine!" She cried. "I'll tell you, but you have _got_ to stop doing that!" He grinned around his thumb, then took it out of his mouth, and examined it slightly.

"Who would have known that would work so well?" He said to himself wonderingly. The others all laughed at him.

"It wouldn't usually, not for most girls at least. It's just it irritates me." Lily laughed. He winked at her, and she started talking. "I think I was about 8, and my sister Petunia had really upset me, and I just wanted her to hurt as much as I was hurting. She was sitting under a tree, with her boyfriend at that time, and I was so angry! I was watching them, staring really hard, and all of a sudden the guy jumped up and walked away. I didn't really know it was magic, then, but I was certain I'd done something to make that happen. I was really scared; I was only young, and magic isn't supposed to exist, after all, so I ran down the stairs and told my mum. She looked surprised, and was going to say something, but at that very instant Petunia ran in, crying her eyes out. I felt a perverse kind of pleasure for a moment, but I instantly felt bad, and swore to myself I would never do anything like that again.

"Eventually, Petunia found out what I had told my parents; I don't know how. She demanded I show her, so I tried jumping off the swing, when it was as high as it could go. I didn't land funny, didn't break anything, not even my clothes. Then Petunia told me I had to teach her how to do it. I told her I didn't know how to, but she just ignored me. She did exactly what I did (swinging really high, then jumping off). I was so worried, I couldn't watch. But she landed perfectly, again not even a scrape on her. I was so relieved, I hugged her. She was really proud of herself, and instantly went to tell Mum and Dad. She took a while finding them, and I got bored waiting for them, so I went exploring again. After crashing through our bushes, I ended up face to face with a boy, Severus Snape-" Here the boys looked at each other, disgusted and angry. Lily ignored them. "-who lives down the road from me. He had seen me and Petunia jump, and told me I have magic. Not us, me. I was suddenly panicked; Petunia was going to jump again! While we were talking, we had been walking further and further away from my garden. As soon as I realised, I turned back and started running, praying I wasn't too late. Just before I got back to our hedge, I heard a terrible scream, and I knew I was.

"Petunia had to go to hospital – she had fractured her spine, and broken her arm. She was heartbroken, and blamed me, saying it was all my fault. From then on, she was horrible to me, so I ended up spending more and more time with Sev. He explained to me about the school, punishments, punishable offenses, things like that. But then his dad caught us lying under a willow tree one day, talking, and went mad. He started yelling at us both, shooting curses everywhere. I was really scared, so I ran, and he yelled at me to never go near his son again. I haven't seen him, or anyone who does magic, since. I didn't even see him on the train..." She trailed off, noticing the boys were all staring at her. A blush crept up her cheeks. "What?" she demanded. They looked at each other uneasily. "What?" She asked again, slightly worried now. Finally, Remus spoke.

"There was a boy on the train, who was walking along going into booths, to see whether someone was in there. He came into ours, but didn't tell us who he was looking for. If he had, we'd have told him you were there quite happily. But he didn't, he just stuck his head in the door, and looked around. Before he came in, you were shivering a lot, so we – um..." He blushed this time "We covered you with a blanket. He came in, looked around, and asked us what was under the blanket in the corner, but he refused to tell us why he wanted to know, so we told him it was just our bags, and we'd left the blanket on top. I'm sorry, Lily." He looked up at her nervously. She just giggled slightly and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter – he was supposed to meet me on the platform but he never came, so I just got on the train on my own. Serves him right, really." They looked relieved, and she giggled again. "Did he believe you? That I was just some bags?" They glanced at each other (Lily had noticed they seemed to do that a lot) then shrugged. It was James who answered, even though she was looking at Remus.

"He just looked at it – I mean you! – suspiciously, and walked off." James shrugged. "He must have done."

Just then, Hagrid gestured for them all to be quiet, and said in a booming voice that echoed around the cavern; "Everyone set? Great, let's go!" He led them up a set of steep, stone steps, until they reached a door carved into the wall. He raised one massive hand, and banged on it three times. As he was taking his hand off the door, it opened.


	3. The Sorting and The Feast

**Chapter three – The Sorting and the Feast**

Illuminated in the light from the hall behind her stood a very tall, severe looking woman. She had black hair held up in a bun, glasses, and was wearing emerald robes with a pointy hat perched on her head. Behind Lily, she heard Sirius whisper "We'd better not try anything in front of _her_!" She mentally nodded; this lady looked as though she would not waver in her judgement, no matter what.

"Here they are, the firs' years, Professor." Hagrid said to her. She nodded.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She told him. He beamed and walked off down the entrance hall, whistling tunelessly to himself, going to who-knows-where. The severe lady watched him go, shaking her head, and sighing.

The instant he had gone round the corner, she turned back to the first years, and started examining them. Some people held her eye, while others fidgeted nervously and looked away. When she got to Lily, she raised her eyebrow slightly. Lily was standing in the middle of Remus, James, Sirius and Peter. She shrugged at the teacher, and she could have sworn she saw a slight wink in reply. Before she had even fully registered it, however, the professor's gaze had moved on. She paused slightly when she got to another group of boys, this one with no girl in the middle, standing a little way apart from everyone else. They were glaring at Lily and James' lot, and the professor knew she was going to be in for a long seven years, trying to keep this lot out of trouble. She half smiled at them all.

"Good evening, children, and welcome to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall-"

"And you will be our guide for this evening." Lily finished in a whisper, barely hiding her smile. James, who was standing in front of her, glanced back slightly and grinned. He wasn't the only one who heard it, as Lily was sure she could see a faint glimmer of a smile on the professor's lips.

"-head of Gryffindor house." She continued, as if she hadn't just heard Lily. Lily smiled a little bit more. Although she wouldn't be a good teacher to cross, she could obviously handle a joke. "If you could please all follow me?" She finished, then started striding off in the direction Hagrid had gone. They followed her round the corner, and stopped once more. As they had been walking, a few people had started whispering to each other, or talking in low voices, and once they stopped McGonagall shushed them. When everyone was perfectly silent, she pushed open the doors like a cowboy strutting in to a bar in the West. Lily giggled at that analogy, earning herself strange looks from the boys surrounding her. That just made her giggle more, and they couldn't help but join in.

Then they walked through the doors. They had entered a ginormous hall, filled with people joking and laughing. It was decorated with banners hanging – floating even – above the student's heads. On the walls were many a painting. Lily gasped. The pictures moved! They were walking out of their own portraits, and into others, and yelling across the room to pictures on the other side.

When Lily was finally able to tear her eyes off the paintings, she noticed four tables stretching almost the entire length of the room. On the very far right was a table under banners of yellow and black, a Badger sewn on top. Hufflepuffs.

Next to them, a table was sitting under blue and silver hangings, an eagle on top. Ravenclaws.

Next to the walkway, on the left sat some people under red and gold banners, a lion roaring on top. Gryffindors. Lily knew instinctively she would become one of them, and wear their badge with pride.

After the Gryffindors, on the far left, they were sat under tapestries of green and silver, a snake hissing on top. Slytherins. Was it just her imagination, or did they look rougher than all the other tables put together?

James, who was walking along in front of her, stopped abruptly. Still enraptured by the beauty of all the tapestries, she didn't notice and carried on walking – right into his back.

"Ow." She said, without a hint of emotion in her voice. James laughed and moved out of her way, so she could see past him.

There was three steps, leading up to a dais, on which was seated the teachers, leaning on a long table that spanned the width of the room. Sitting smack bang in the idle was a wizened old man, with long silvery-white hair, and a beard to match. Strangely enough, her first thought upon seeing the man was "I wonder if his beard is real..." He had thinning red lips, and a long, crooked nose, a pair of half-moon spectacles balanced on it. Above the spectacles was a pair of startling blue eyes that twinkled with mischief. He seemed to be looking right at her. When she looked into his eyes, he smiled slightly, and gently tugged on his beard. It didn't give. Lily blushed beet-red and nodded at him. He nodded back, then stood to address the room as a whole.

"Welcome and welcome back!" His voice, although kind, filled the hall and reverberated off the walls. "Without further ado, let the Sorting begin!"

Professor McGonagall drew up (literally) a three legged stool, and placed a crooked old hat on it. Then she pulled out a piece of parchment.

"When I call your name, please come up to the front, and sit on the stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and it will tell you what house you will be in." McGonagall looked around to check everyone had understood. When she had finished, she nodded twice, then started to read out names.

"Aiz, Charlotte" skipped up the steps to the platform, as though she did it every day of her life. She plonked the hat on her own head, and the instant it brushed her hair, it yelled out "RAVENCLAW!". She skipped back down the steps, to become the first Ravenclaw of that year.

Next came "Allis, Mary". She looked really nervous, as if she thought she might get Slytherin or something. Lily hoped she didn't, she looked like she'd be ripped apart by them. Mary stepped nervously up to the dais, hands shaking, and sat down on the seat. McGonagall placed the hat on her head. It seemed to deliberate for a minute, and Mary's eyes starting to flicker from side to side. Eventually, when Mary was halfway off her seat, it came to a decision. "GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled. Mary seemed to deflate in relief, and started down to the Gryffindor table. Behind Lily, she heard Sirius whisper to James.

"She doesn't really look that brave…" Lily couldn't help but agree. Lily missed the next few names, thinking about what house she would end up in. Then James pushed her towards Remus. She looked around, ready to complain, the words forming on her lips, when Sirius walked past. She couldn't help but notice that his face was pale, and his hands were white and shaking. He looked at her, and she smiled reassuringly at him. He gave her a small smile in return, then walked past, up the steps. Lily stood there, fingers crossed hoping he would get whichever house he wanted. After a moments deliberation, the hat decided. "GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled. There was a moment of complete and utter silence, then James started clapping and yelling, and the Gryffindors took their lead from him. Lily relaxed slightly; she was so relieved he wasn't in Slytherin. In what seemed like seconds, but was in reality a few minutes, she heard her name. She froze up. The boys were looking at her worriedly. She sighed and shook herself like a dog. Then she walked up, in front of everyone – _everyone was staring at her!_ – and sat on the chair. And McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"Hmm... plenty of bravery and courage, and a thirst for knowing, and knowledge, too." Said a little voice in her ear. She was determined not to flinch. "You're also loyal, and very proud. You have a thirst for power. Dear lord! You could be in any of the houses! Which one do you want to be in?" It asked her. She thought for a moment, then said (in her head) as hard as she could "GRYFFINDOR!". The hat came off her head, and she slowly stood up.

* * *

><p>James stared at the girl on the stage. Lily. She really was beautiful. And in that instant, he knew he had to have her. He'd only met her that day, and he hardly knew anything about her, but he wanted her. And what he wanted, he got. One way or another. But he didn't want her in the way he wanted other pretty girls – a quick snog, cop a feel, then leave. He wanted her for the rest of their lives. He wanted his ring on her finger. He didn't know why. He didn't even care. He just knew he loved her like he'd never loved another girl before.<p>

Lily looked confused, though. He doubted she could hear his thoughts, but why was she standing there? Surely she'd heard the hat yell Gryffindor? It was loud enough that a few people had ducked and cowered, covering their ears with their hands. And the Gryffindors were all clapping and cheering. He didn't know how she couldn't notice! After a few seconds, Sirius jumped the steps, grabbed her hand, and pulled her down to the Gryffindor table. There were a few smatterings of laughter, but they stopped at one look from Dumbledore. She looked up, and smiled sadly at someone in the crowd around James. He looked around suspiciously, finally noticing the kid they'd kicked out of their booth on the train. He looked absolutely murderous. James resolved to keep a close eye on him.

He was so preoccupied, trying to figure out what happened with Lily, the hat, and the boy (who he assumed was Snape), he didn't notice Remus going up, and getting Gryffindor, or Peter (who got Gryffindor as well). Only when he saw Sirius wave at him and gesture him forwards did he realise it was his name that had just been called. He took a deep breath, then stepped onto the dais.

"Well, well, well," Said a voice in his ear. James closed his eyes slightly, then opened them again. "A Potter, hey? Hmm... I know exactly what to do with you!" James wished as hard as he could. "GRYFFINDOR" The hat yelled. James relaxed, took off the hat, then went and collapsed on a seat at the Gryffindor table opposite Lily, Sirius, and Remus. He didn't bother paying attention to anyone else's Sorting – he and his friends were together, and they were with Lily.

He glanced over at Lily, only to find her already looking at him. Instead of blushing and looking away, like most girls did, she met his stare head on with one of her own. They seemed locked in their own world for a few moments, the spell only broken when a hand waved in front of their faces. James glared a Sirius, who just grinned and gestured towards the front, where Dumbledore was standing, waiting for everyone to be looking at him before he began his speech. His "speech" (if you could even call it that) was fabulous and fast.

"I'm sure you are all starving and hungry, so I'll keep my speech nice and short." His eyes, if possible, were twinkling even more than they were at the beginning, and everyone else was laughing quietly into their hands. "So, here you have it; my speech. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" Everyone burst into proper laughter, and cheered him as he sat down on his chair. He grinned and tipped his pointy wizards' hat at them.

Suddenly, food of all kinds appeared on the table. It appeared his father had not been kidding when he told James about the magnificent feasts they had had. There was fish, turkey, chicken, vegetables, things for vegetarians that James couldn't name, cheese (grated and sliced and in chunks), eggs, and many more foods that he recognised but couldn't name.

Once the pupils had given up on finishing the main course, the food disappeared, and puddings appeared! James, Lily, Remus, Peter, Sirius and the rest of the first years looked around in amazement. There seemed to be even more choice of desserts than there was of firsts!

There was chocolate, chocolate pudding, rice pudding, treacle tart, bakewell tart, sticky toffee pudding, and then there were the cakes. So many different types of cakes! Coffee and chocolate and vanilla sponge and lemon and blueberry and coconut and loads of different types of muffins. They ate and drank until they couldn't fill their stomachs any more.

When everyone had finished, Dumbledore clapped his hands, and the food disappeared, as did the crockery. Everyone looked up at him.

"I have a few _proper _announcements to make. The Forbidden Forrest is called 'forbidden' for a reason – you are not allowed to go in there. Also, this year we have a new addition to the school grounds, a Whomping Willow. It is the only one of its kind, and we would be very grateful if no one tries to take a seed and grow little baby Whomping Willows. I ask of you, do not go near it; it is extremely dangerous and will hit anything in reach of its branches." He said "Also, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like to remind everyone that a full list of Prohibited Materials is currently on display in his office." He gestured at a scruffy looking man who was standing, leaning against the doors at the back of the hall with a cat in his arms. The man nodded at the students who turned to look at him. "So! Off to bed, I think!" Dumbledore called. Ignoring the groans, he continued. "First years, if you follow the prefects from your house, they will show you how to get to your house common rooms, and explain some of how Hogwarts works. Though that is really hard to explain!" He clapped twice, and everyone stood up and started walking over to their friends in the other houses.

James, being pretty tall, could just about see over the tops of the people, but Lily and Peter couldn't. He stood, walked around the table, and grabbed both of their arms. He began walking, following the voices yelling "GRYFFINDORS! FIRST YEAR GRYFFINDORS TO US, PLEASE!" dragging them along behind him. Remus and Sirius, after sharing a knowing look, followed behind them.

He pushed through the crowd, and eventually got to where the prefects were standing. There was a boy and a girl, and James was certain he had seen them somewhere before. Somewhere bad. Then he shook himself ridding himself of the feeling.

"Come on, then. Is that everyone? Good. Off we go!" The boy said. He was tall and muscled, with reddy-brown hair that reached his ears, and warm chocolate brown eyes. He started walking towards the doors at the end of the Great hall, without stopping to check if the first years were following him. When nobody moved, James sighed and pushed his way through them, and started following the boy. Everyone else followed his lead.

They walked around the whole school, with the prefect explaining where and what everything was, until they came to the staircases. There were millions of them, all moving from one platform to another. The prefects taught the first years the very fine art of picking which staircase to get onto, and where the trick stairs were.

Finally, after about five minutes of stair hopping, they got to a portrait of a fat lady, dressed in a toga and a gold leaf crown placed on her head. She was holding a glass of wine. "Password?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Animosos" The prefect replied. The Fat Lady nodded, and her portrait swung open.


	4. Gryffindor!

**Chapter Four – GRYFFINDOR!**

Behind the portrait of the Fat Lady was a lounge style room. The common room. It had lots of portraits on the walls, all of which stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the new arrivals, and red and gold banners hanging from the ceiling.

After giving them a moment to take it all in, the prefect spoke. "This is the Gryffindor common room. Over there-" He pointed to the right of the common room, where the first years could see the beginnings of a set of stairs. "-is the girls dorms. Over there-" He pointed to the opposite side of the room "-is the boys dorms. You will have the same dorm room, and you will sleep with the same people every year you are here at Hogwarts, unless you become Head Girl or Boy. Off you go girls – Lindy here will show you round your bit."

Lindy and the girls walked off to the stairs the boy had pointed out first. James couldn't help but watch Lily as she walked off, glancing around at everything. She really was perfect. He heard some people snickering behind him, and he turned to see Sirius, Remus and Peter with their hands over their mouths, trying not to laugh. He shook his head ruefully. He knew he would never ear the end of this.

The other prefect waited for them to finish, then led them up the stairs to their dorm room. He didn't walk in.

"Only you four can go in your room once you have been in there." He told them, refusing to go in. James gulped and opened the door, jumping back as soon as he had opened it. He only just managed to avoid the balls of paper that had been stacked precariously, leaning on the door. The prefect burst out laughing, then apologized. "I honestly didn't expect that. Normally the pranks are much subtler, and much more mature." James and the boys looked at each other.

"Who would you, theoretically, think had done this?" Remus asked. The boy looked slightly nervous, though who could scare someone like that bewildered James, and Remus was quick to reassure him. "I won't do anything, I swear." The boy looked slightly less nervous.

"Theoretically, it would be a group of sixth or seventh years. There are three of them, in the dorm above yours." Remus nodded.

"Thank you. Also, what's your name? Now we've got the welcoming prank over and all..." The boys laughed and held out his hand.

"Jae Rose, Sixth year Prefect, head of Gryffindor Quidditch team. Nice to meet y'all." He shook hands with Remus, then Sirius, Peter, and finally James. James was looking at him, obviously sizing him up.

"What year do you have to be on to try out for the Quidditch teams?" James asked in the end. Now Jae was sizing up James. He obviously liked what he saw, because he laughed, and told him.

"No age limit. Tryouts are on Saturday." James grinned and started to turn away, but turned back as though a thought had only just struck him.

"There won't be anything else in here, will there?" Jae shook his head, grinning. "Good. Oh, what positions are free?" Jae shook his head again, and smacked himself on the forehead with his hand.

"Oh Godric, I'm a terrible captain!" he said. James smiled to himself. "We are trying for... um... I think... we need two Beaters, a Chaser, and a Seeker. What position do you play?"

"Seeker." Jae nodded.

"Well, I'd better go up to bed now. I have rounds tomorrow!" He said. James laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Sure you'll survive, mate!" James called as Jae walked off. Once he was sure Jae had gone, he turned to Remus. "So?" He asked. "What have you discovered?" Sirius and Peter glanced at each other, surprised, then leaned forwards to hear the answer better. Remus glanced around.

"Let's go into our dorm, then I'll tell you." He suggested. The other three looked around too, then nodded.

They walked carefully into their room, kicking the spare balls of paper out of the way. There was nothing else in there that any of them could see, hear, or smell, so they closed the door and sat down on the beds, one each.

"It was sixth years, either some of his friends on their own, or working with him. They aren't in the room above, that's some really nasty seventh years." Remus told them speaking quietly. Sirius and Peter's mouths dropped open.

"How-how-how..." Sirius started

"I have extremely good hearing, "uncommonly good" according to the doctors. I can tell when people are lying, but it's very hard to tell what people are lying about if they say lots all at once. He was lying when he said "in the dorm above yours", but he wasn't lying about there being three of them. I say we wait until a few days have passed, so we can see if he hangs around with two or three other people. How can we see where they sleep, though?" James grinned at Sirius.

"This is where I come in!" He ran over to his bag, where he had dumped it on the floor, and rooted through it. After a while, he pulled out a silver cloak that glistened slightly. Remus gasped.

"Is-is that...?" James laughed.

"Hell yeah! The one and only real Invisibility Cloak there is!" He swung it around his shoulders and the whole of his body – apart from his head – disappeared.

"Wow!" Sirius said excitedly. "We can get away with anything with this at our disposal!" Remus tried to look at him disapprovingly, but he didn't quite manage. James looked around at his friends, and knew they were going to have fun these seven years at Hogwarts together.

"So, about this prank..."

* * *

><p>Lily looked around her dorm – her room for the next seven years. She knew she wouldn't be going home for most of the holidays even at that early stage.<p>

It was quite pretty, really. It just wasn't her room. She had only been there one night – less than that, in fact, and she was already homesick. She went to collapse onto a bed, but instantly jumped up again. She didn't know if anyone had already laid claim to it. She looked around nervously.

Lily was not normally nervous about anything, but this, without her family or friends to back her up, was pretty darn scary! The other girls were chatting quietly amongst themselves. They had all already chosen beds, and the only one left was the one she standing next to. It was right next to the door, but Lily was fine with that. It meant if she got upset or anything, she could easily get to her bed from the common room, or the common room from her bed. Or to the actual castle. But that didn't really matter. She grabbed the bag from under her bed, and started pulling out things. First came clothes – she sorted them into tops, bottoms, jumpers, robes and pyjamas. Underneath her first layer of clothes came all of the delicate items she couldn't go anywhere without.

There were her glass animals – a fox, a black, shaggy dog, a puppy, a wolf, a swan, a stag, and a doe. These she placed carefully on her bedside table. Then she pulled out the silly little gifts she'd bought herself when she and her family were on holiday together, before the whole magic thing started with Petunia. She smiled sadly as she placed them on her bedside table too.

There were a few snow globes, of places in France and Spain they had visited over the years, but they were mainly little statuettes of animals or fairies that she had found, generally at the back of antique stores. She had millions more at homes; if she saw one she liked, she couldn't help herself. She just had to buy it.

After the "delicates", as she called them, came all of her books. She hadn't known whether or not there would be a library, and even though she was sure there would be (what sort of school didn't have a library?) so she had decided to bring along her favourite books, as well as the books everyone had to bring. She left the books in her bag – she didn't think she would be able to read that night, and there was nothing else in the bottom of her bag.

Once she had finished setting up, she looked around at the other girls again. They were all in their pyjamas by then, having not bothered to get anything out, and were sitting chatting on a few of the beds. Upon seeing Lily studying them, one of them gestured her over, but she just blushed and shook her head. When she saw they weren't going to leave her alone unless she went over and was sociable, or she went to bed, she chose the easy option. Doing a massive fake yawn, she grabbed her pyjamas and retreated behind the hangings on her bed to get changed. Even after she had finished, she didn't go back out again. She was knackered, and she didn't want to have to talk right then. So she promptly put her head down on the pillow of her bed, and fell asleep. Or pretended to, at least.

When she was sure the other girls were asleep, she opened the curtains hung round her bed. And started exploring.


	5. Here Come the Marauders

**Chapter Five – Here come the Marauders**

The next morning, Lily woke up very early. She was tired, but she was also so nervous about her first day as a real life witch she couldn't go back to sleep. She swung open her curtains, and peered out. The other girls were all still asleep; she could hear a few of them snoring. Deciding to go for it, she got changed into her school robes, grabbed a book, and made her way cautiously down the stairs.

She crept into the common room so quietly no one noticed her go in. The only people in there were... James, Sirius, Peter and Remus?

"How come you guys are up so early?" She heard herself ask. The boys jumped guiltily and turned around, trying to cover the papers on the table as she walked towards them. "What are you _doing_?" She asked again. Sirius leaned back on his chair, apparently not bothered about the fact she might see whatever they were working on at – she looked over their shoulders out the window – about five o'clock in the morning. She knew she was really just stalling, letting them put away whatever it was they didn't want her to see, but she didn't mind. She could tell Remus had noticed what she was doing, because he smiled gratefully up at her.

"What are _you_ doing down here at five o'clock in the morning?" Sirius demanded brusquely. She realised he was distracting her, and she allowed it to work. Just this once, she reminded herself. Eventually they would learn to trust her. She waved the book in his face.

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to come downstairs and read for a bit. There's no light in the dorm." Remus nodded (he believed her) so the rest waited for her to go.

After a few moments of waiting, James grew impatient.

"What do you want? We're kinda busy at the moment, you know." She nodded, and walked over to one of the armchairs next to the fire, where she proceeded to open the book to a specific page and begin to read.

It was a very interesting book, but the boys sitting behind her were much more interesting. They kept saying things like "No, that wouldn't work." and "What if we put that there?" They were making no move to lower their voices, so she caught most of what they were saying.

From what she had heard, and what she had inferred, something had happened when they went to their dorm room the previous night, and they wanted revenge on the people who had done it. By the sounds of it, they hadn't got around to going to sleep that night, and all of them apart from Remus were planning on sleeping in their lessons that day.

She grew tired of thinking of them as "the boys", so she turned around.

"Guys, have you got a name?" she called out suddenly. At their blank looks, she quickly explained. "I mean for the four of you. I only met y'all yesterday, and I'm already fed up of calling you "The Boys"!" They laughed slightly, then glanced at each other. (One. (She had decided to count the amount of time they did that in a day))

"RPSJ?" Sirius asked his friends. They thought it over for a moment, then shook their heads no. Lily could tell she had given them a very tough question to think over, but she was pretty impatient.

"What about the Marauders?" She blurted. The four boys (GRRR) looked at her, stunned.

"Why do you say that?" Remus asked her, eyes twinkling.

"Well..." She started. "Um... because I get the feeling you won't stop 'til you get what you want, and you will most certainly end up with something by the end of this pra-I mean, the end of your time here." She blushed. Sirius and James grimaced at each other.

"How much of our conversation did you hear when you where coming down the stairs?" James asked, resigned. Lily shook her head.

"None, I swear. It's just from the paper I saw, and the conversation you were having just then, while I was sitting here reading." James looked surprised, and glanced at Remus. Remus nodded at her.

"Do you know who we're going to hit/what happened?" Remus asked.

"No! Well, kinda. They did something to you guys last night, something like a welcoming prank. It was probably one of the age old ones, like water balanced on top of a door, or loads of paper balls in your dorm, or maybe even a stinky fish/something smelly in your dorm. It had to be; otherwise you wouldn't be so upset you fell for it. One of you kept muttering "that sneaky bastard", so I'd guess it was also something to do with the prefect who showed you your dorm. In case you wanted to know, and it is the prefect, his dorm's two floors above yours, on the left. He shares with three other dorm mates. They are really worried; at least, he is. I overheard him telling his friends that he thought you guys were going to get them back. The others didn't seem too worried. Told him you guys couldn't do anything too bad. That's when I left. I didn't really want to know what you boys were getting up to while I was supposed to be in bed. I then realised how late it was and really went to bed.

"If you are going to hit him – Jae – and his friends, I would recommend waiting for a while, so they end up thinking you aren't going to do anything, then humiliating them publically. That way, they won't prank any other first years for a while, and by the time they would bring up the courage to, they would be leaving school." They looked at her in amazement and she coloured slightly. "What?" She demanded. "It's what I would do!" Fed up of watching them staring at her, she turned back to her book, and started reading it.

After a few seconds, however, she turned around again. They were still staring at her, but she ignored it for a moment. "Also, the name thing wasn't completely random. You can say the Marauders did it, and that way you shouldn't get in as much trouble, especially if they have no way of proving the Marauders are you. All they'd have would be guess-work, and the word of the Prefect you were chatting to last night." Remus nodded slowly.

"She's right, you know. But you guys'll have to remember to not brag about it, before or after!" Sirius and James sighed, looked at each other then nodded reluctantly. "Peter?" Remus prompted. They smaller boy nodded too. "It's decided then; we will be the Marauders, and we won't tell _anyone_. Right?" He looked dangerously at James and Sirius, who nodded again. Then he looked at Lily. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" He asked. She gasped in indignation. She stood, and began emphasising her point with her finger.

"I just suggested it to you, so you wouldn't get in as much trouble! Why on Earth would I tell anyone?" She stopped, and thought for a moment. "Can I see what you're going to do, though?" she asked, almost shyly. The boys – the Marauders now, she reminded herself – nodded, and moved over, so she could sit down.

She put down her book and moved to sit with them. "So, this is what we're going to do..."

* * *

><p>After another hour and a half's planning, they were pretty certain they had covered every angle, and knew everything they needed to know. James sat back in his chair, hands behind his head, and looked at Lily and his friends chatting and messing around. <em>She really is beautiful<em>, he thought to himself. He could just imagine her on their wedding day, white veil and pure white dress. It would set off her bright red hair nicely. _Wait, what? Since when have I thought things like that?_ He asked himself. He laughed at himself and shook his head. He was officially going crazy.

He noticed the others staring at him, and he laughed even harder. Sirius shook his head sadly.

"I always knew the day would come – the soon-to-be-famous James Potter has finally gone stark-raving mad." Lily nodded sympathetically; face twitching as she tried not to smile. James simply grinned and asked whether it was time for breakfast.

Lily looked out the window, to see what the time was, and said "We can go now if you want to, honey." In the sort of voice you use when you are talking to little kids or crazy people. James stared at her in amazement, while the other Marauders where pissing themselves with laughter.

"You-you probably don't want to-to keep lo-loo-looking like that, James my man, un-unless you _really_ want us to th-think you're crazy!" Remus gasped, through his peals of laughter. James glanced at him and winked, before continuing to stare at Lily with a vacant expression.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and burst into laughter. She grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the portrait hole, the other Marauders following along behind her.

Just before they got to the Great Hall, James stopped and walked over to the side, now dragging Lily. "Do you know which teachers have a good sense of humour?" He asked her. She shook her head. "In that case, do you know where the boys that pranked us are supposed to be?" This time, Remus nodded.

"They should be coming soon. Why?"

"Because this way, we can set them up for our prank." He whispered, as a teacher walked past. They looked at the five of the suspiciously, before shrugging and walking off. They were breaking no rules.

"What's this grand set-up plan you have, James?" Lily giggled.

"Here's what we could do..."

By the time James had finished explaining her plan, the other boys and Lily were nodding and trying to hold back smiles.

"Ready?" He asked them in a whisper. They all nodded. "Right. I'll go and get ready, you guys head off and 'hurt yourselves'" they nodded again, and everyone went to get set up.

Lily took a deep breath. She had the toughest job of all. The previous night, when she had been exploring, she had found a few secret passages out of Gryffindor. One of them led to a dead end, the others led to places like the library and the Headmaster's office. And one of them led to the kitchens.

* * *

><p><em>Lily yawned and stretched her arms above her head. She was tired, but she knew she would be too nervous to sleep. So, instead of going back to bed, like she knew she should have, she started exploring the whole of Gryffindor tower. She deliberately avoided the boys and girls dorms – she had already explored them to a great extent. Instead, she explored the common room, looking for unusual nooks and crannies for her to hide in, and walls that didn't quite fit with the rest of the room.<em>

_She literally fell right into the first secret passageway she found. She had just discovered a little hidey-hole, where she could spy on people in the common room without them noticing her, leant back against the right wall... and fell onto the cold, hard, stone floor. She stood up, and brushed herself down – she was too tired and too nervous about lessons to be worried about seemingly falling through a solid brick wall. She looked around, and saw she was in a passage of some kind. She followed it, and ended up at a dead end. She shrugged and retraced her steps, back to the common room._

_The rest she found, she found properly. She was looking at a wall, and realised it didn't fit with the rest of the room. Everything else was symmetrical, with everything the same on both sides, but this wall seemed to stick out a bit more than the opposite wall. She walked around it, tapping all of the bricks with her wand. Eventually, the wall moved, opening out just enough for someone of her size to fit through. When she had slipped through the gap, it closed behind her. She wasn't worried; if she couldn't get out again she would just bang on the wall until someone got her out._

_She found herself in a pentagonal room, with doors on each wall, including the one she had just come through. Now she was certain she would be able to get back out again._

_She looked around. There were four other doors she hadn't been through yet. She was pretty sure one of the ones on the left led to the boys and/or girls dorms, and she didn't feel like going back to bed quite then. Instead, she chose the one next to it. It was a pretty long passage, and she was tired, so she walked most of the way along it, before sticking her head out of one of the many doors on the side. She instantly pulled her head back in, and shut the door quietly. It led to a staircase, guarded on either side by two sleeping gryffins. She turned and walked quickly back up the passage, now fully awake. She walked back through the wall/door, and immediately walked through the next one._

_It was much shorter, and led to what she assumed was the library._

_The last one she went down led to the kitchens. It wasn't as long as the one to the staircase, but it wasn't as short as the one to the library either. It ended rather suddenly, at a painting of a very strange little being, with pointy ears, wearing an apron. Or maybe not an apron. Maybe it was... a pillowcase? She gasped. Who would do such a thing to such a majestic creature? Well, maybe not majestic, she thought to herself ruefully, but she understood what she meant. How could she not? She was herself, after all. She forced her mind from that route, before her head exploded from all the thoughts bouncing around in it. It was too late to be thinking big things like that. She just needed to focus on small things. Like the picture. She snorted. She had just been unintentionally funny!_

_The portrait opened. Lily, busy snorting with laughter, didn't notice it was open until a small voice came from it._

_"Excuse me, Miss? Is you alright?" It asked. She stopped snorting abruptly, and looked down to see what the voice had come from. Standing in front of her, barely up to her knee, was a little – thing. Lily looked at the portrait, then at the little thing standing before her. She gasped, and the edges of her vision started going black. She instantly sat down and put her head on her knees, waiting for the dizziness and the blackness to pass._

_When she finally looked back up, the creature was still there, and there were more around it. Too tired to be polite, she asked "What are you?" The little creature jumped, then looked nervously around._

_"Come in here, I will get the Chiefy to talk to yous." It said. She nodded, and followed it into the room._

_She looked around in amazement. She was in a kitchen, by the looks of it, but it was absolutely massive. She wouldn't be surprised if it spanned most of the bottom of the school! As she was looking around, the little creature disappeared, and re-appeared with another creature that looked exactly like it, just taller. And it was wearing a horrific green hat, with holes in it so his ears could poke through. He looked at her suspiciously, then turned to the other creature next to him._

_"Why have you broughts another one of thems in here?" It asked, voice even higher than the first's. But that was probably just from annoyance. The littler one shrunk slightly under his gaze, but still held firm._

_"She was falling over outsides, Chiefy. And she doesn't know what we are. I just thoughted maybe we could give her a little foodstuffs before she collapses?" The elder growled, obviously not liking being put in his place by something younger than it._

_"Fine!" It turned to Lily. She had been sinking lower and lower on the wall, as she struggled to not fall asleep. It looked her over, and heaved another great sigh. "We might as well feed her a little – though don't expect to get this treatment every time you want a midnight snack!" He finished, glaring at Lily. She was too tired to complain about the unfair treatment. Then she heard him say "She'd better not start ruining our food." This woke her up quite a bit._

_"Hey!" She yelled, indignant. "Why would I ruin food I want to be able to eat in the morning?" The head creature turned around slowly._

_"I don't know." He said, speaking softly. "Why don't you ask the other ones of you that always do it?" She bared her teeth and growled at him._

_"I wouldn't do that, and I don't know anyone who wo-oh. Is it, by any chance, a group of sixth year Gryffindors?" The Head, looking suspicious, nodded slowly._

_"How do you know that?" He asked._

_"They hit my friends earlier this evening. We're going to get them back, soon." The thing was nodding again, now looking as though Christmas had come early._

_"Is there anything we house-elves can do to help?" He asked eagerly. Lily mentally punched the air. She finally knew what they were! In reality, however, she didn't move._

_"We'll let you know if there is anything you can do to help, but I don't think so at the moment. I swear I'll come back, though, and tell you when it's going to happen, and if you can do anything to help." She held one hand up, and one she placed over her heart. The house elf nodded._

_"Thank you, Miss…?" She gasped slightly. She hadn't told them her name!_

_"Lily. Lily Evans." She replied, and the house elf bowed._

_"Miss Lily. We will be looking forward to seeing you again. Have much fun pranking!" It called after her, as she went back out the portrait. She waved in reply._

* * *

><p>She pulled herself back to the here and now. She needed to move! She ran down the corridor, and into the passageway entrance. She then ran the entire way down the passage, and skidded to a halt, panting, next to a small door. She knocked on it timidly. A little house elf opened it suspiciously, then threw it open.<p>

"Mistress Lily! You is back!" She squealed, then hugged Lily's knees. She awkwardly hugged her back one-armed, then glanced round the kitchen. The house elves were all covered in soot. Lily swore.

"They didn't get you _again_, did they?" She demanded. The head house elf nodded, ears downcast. She swore again, then remembered why she had come down to see the house-elves. "Guys! Me and the Marauders – they're my friends – have figured out a way to get the boys back who keep doing this to you!" The house elves cheered, and rushed over to hug Lily.

"Does you needs any helps, Mistress Lily?" One of the older ones asked her. She grimaced and nodded.

"There is one thing we need you guys to do..." She pulled a packet out of her pocket. "Can you put this in the food for the boys?" The head house elf nodded yes, and took the packet.

"We wills make sure them evil boys's gets them, Mistress Lily!" The head house elf crowed, after reading what it said on the packet. Lily grinned in relief.

"Thanks, guys. I'd better go now, so I can get to breakfast to watch the show. Thanks again!" She called as she walked out of the door.

She ran down the passageway, grabbing her mini camera as she did so, from where she had hid it the previous night.


End file.
